Even though it's 2017, and society's openness towards non-heterosexuality has improved, there are still a lot of misconceptions about what it's like to be a girl who likes girls. As a girl who identifies as gay, I've compiled this list of things that most queer girls would agree are things you need to know about us.
1. We are not just masturbation material.
2. Not all of us have short or buzzed hair.
3. We can be girly, too.
4. Not all of us are raging feminists.
5. Just because we aren’t raging feminists doesn’t mean we approve of objectifying women. We don’t.
6. We’re not staring at you as you change clothes in the women's gym locker room.
7. For us, sexuality is part of who we are; we aren’t taking part in a new social trend.
8. We don’t hate men.
10. That’s probably not our best friend that we’re holding hands with.
11. Butch lesbians aren’t cold and callous creatures; they’re actually really sweet and have big hearts.
12. Just because we’re gay doesn’t mean we’ve seen every episode of “The Ellen Show”.
13. We don’t always want to be just one-time experiments for our straight friends.
14. We can recognize when a man is attractive; we’re gay, but we still have eyes.
15. Likewise, you, as a straight woman, can recognize when another woman is attractive without being gay.
16. Nobody is “too pretty to be a lesbian”.
17. Neither of us is “the man” in the relationship. That’s kind of the point, sweetie.
18. Not all of us have played softball, basketball, or any other sport.
19. We don’t only watch “Orange is the New Black” and “The L Word”. We can enjoy “The Bachelor”, too, or anything else.
20. Dude, we aren’t hitting on your girlfriend.
21. Queer girls can settle down, too; stop popularizing the belief that we are only about one-night stands.
22. For the last time, this is my girlfriend, not my sister.
23. Stop asking if we’d like to have a threesome with you and your girlfriend.
24. Please don’t assume we only own flannels (maybe we do, maybe we don’t).
25. Try not to act so surprised when we wear dresses or put on makeup.
26. Don’t tell us that we “don’t look gay enough”.
27. If we’re bisexual or pansexual, that doesn’t mean we can’t commit to a guy or a girl at one time.
28. We “come out” to people almost every day. It does get easier each time, though.
29. We don’t always end up dating each other’s exes.
30. All of our identities - lesbian, bisexual, asexual, pansexual, and whatever else - are valid and all of them are beautiful.
Regardless of gender or sexuality, love is love. Remember that, everyone.